Director says DiCaprio kicked up a fuss every time he had to get into the water

Director James Cameron has revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio “hated to get wet” while shooting Titanic.

In Cameron’s blockbuster about the sinking of the ocean liner, DiCaprio stars as Jack Dawson, a passenger who meets a watery grave. According to Cameron, the actor became trickier to work with when shooting scenes that take place after the ship hits the iceberg.

During an interview with Brisbane Times, the director recalled: “I always say Leo [DiCaprio] was like a Siamese cat trying to get into the water. I mean, he made a huge production out of getting into the water every time and it didn’t matter. The water could be 80 degrees and it usually was. We put all the breath in afterwards, but he hated to get wet, or he pretended he hated to get wet.”

However, as production was about to wrap, it became clear that DiCaprio had not been suffering from Aquaphobia. Cameron explained: “It turned out on the last day of shooting, we had to do an underwater scene and he said, ‘I’m a certified scuba diver.’ I wanted to wring his neck. What was all this stuff with the cat and getting into the water?”

Last week, Cameron spoke out to refute internet rumours that DiCaprio’s character could have survived at the end of Titanic by sharing space on a life raft with Kate Winslet‘s Rose. The director is currently promoting the 3D Blu-ray edition of Titanic, which came out on September 10 (2012).